Editing Norbert Rillieux (section)

==Early life==
As a [[Creole of color]], Norbert Rillieux had access to education and privileges not available to lower-status free blacks or slaves. Baptized [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], Rillieux received his early education at private Catholic schools in Louisiana before traveling to Paris in the early 1820s to study at [[École Centrale Paris]], one of the top engineering schools in France. While at École Centrale, Norbert studied physics, mechanics, and engineering.  He became an expert in [[steam engine]]s and published several papers about the use of steam to work devices.  These early explorations became the foundation of the technology he would later implement in his evaporator. At 24 (1830), Rillieux became the youngest teacher at École Centrale, instructing in applied mechanics.<ref name=biography>{{cite web |url=https://webfiles.uci.edu/mcbrown/display/rillieux_biography.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130403100253/https://webfiles.uci.edu/mcbrown/display/rillieux_biography.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 3, 2013 |title=Rillieux Biography |access-date=February 20, 2013 }}</ref>